Man arrested, accused of setting fires inside CPCC, Amelie's

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police arrested a man who they said set two fires at Central Piedmont Community College and inside a popular NoDa bakery Wednesday.

Joshua Armstrong will face a judge Thursday on charges of burning a schoolhouse and carelessness with fire.

Officers told Channel 9 that Armstrong set two fires inside the school while people were inside.

The maintenance worker who spotted the fires said the first one was in a stairwell, and the second was in a third-floor bathroom.

He told Channel 9 as he was leaving, he saw smoke coming from a bathroom on the third floor. He said when he opened the door, there was so much fire he couldn't see or breathe.

Everyone inside rushed out to the street while smoke filled the building.

"I was concerned because I didn't know what was going on," student Keisha Jackson said.

The LYNX Gold line street car and traffic were shut down on Elizabeth Avenue to give investigators room to work and air out the building.

The Central High building is used for advising, admissions and student testing, and all of that was disrupted by the trash can fires.

"They could've potentially killed somebody because when you set something like that, you have no idea what's going to happen," said David Tilley who ended up missing an appointment inside the Central High building because of the fire.

"You've got to wonder what this person was here for. Maybe they were trying to avoid something, maybe they had some kind of grudge, maybe they weren't happy with whatever," Tilley said.

The third-floor of the Central High building remains closed so crews can clean up.

Police said Armstrong also set paper towels on fire inside Amelie's French Bakery on North Davidson Street around noon, hours after the CPCC fires.

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